Conventional dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC) utilize dye molecules as the only active light harvesting components to capture the incoming solar radiation. Since there are two orders of magnitude difference between the sizes of the dye molecules which are approximately 2 nm for typical N719 Ruthenium dye whereas the AM1.5 solar spectrum spans from 400 nm to 2000 nm, the incident light collection efficiency of the dye molecules alone is generally low. While the mismatch can be compensated by increasing the thickness of the photoanode layer, the increase in the thickness deters the overall transparency thus degrades the photocathode performance.
The present invention seeks to provide a system which addresses these issues or to increase the efficiency of a solar cell system, or at least to provide an alternative to the public.